20 Ways to Make This Summer Spectacular

2. On a still afternoon, find a quiet, calm and shallow bay and float away for an hour on an innertube. Bring sunscreen.

3. Swim as far as you can across the lake – alongside your spotter, of course.

4. Build an elaborate sand castle, complete with moats and turrets.

5. Look for wild animal tracks.

6. Create an instant birdfeeder by rolling pinecones in peanut butter, then coat them with birdseed and hang from a tree.

7. Sit with your dog and brush that coat until it shines in the sun.

8. Commandeer the hose and have a water fight.9. Take a stroll in the deep woods.

10. Hold a long jump contest – from the dock (include the family dog, where applicable).

11. Swamp your canoe – on purpose.

12. Cut into a well-chilled watermelon and bite into an ice-cold slice in the hot sun.

13. Enjoy a s’more extravaganza by setting up a creation station filled with not only the standard chocolate, marshmallows and graham crackers, but inventive options like berries, peanut butter, slivered almonds, chocolate chips or your favorite sugary breakfast cereal.

14. Skip rocks for the record.

15. Indulge in an afternoon nap.

16. Fly a kite from your boat, in the middle of the lake.

17. Plant some hardy new flowering shrubs.

18. Spend a quiet evening listening to the night sounds around your cabin.

19. Gather family and friends around lanterns at dusk and tell ghost stories.